1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of repairing a vehicle body and a repair indexing device, and more particularly to a device for providing the estimation of the damage of a vehicle body panel and a guide for repairing the damage.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a breakage (dent) is generated on the body of a vehicle due to the cause of a traffic accident, the vehicle body is generally recovered to its original state in accordance with repairing methods mentioned below.
Specifically, when the degree of the dent is large, the curvature of a steel plate itself needs to be corrected. This work is called sheet metal work. The sheet metal work includes a method of correcting the curvature by striking it out or knocking it out from the back side of an iron plate and a method of correcting the curvature by welding an anchor to the surface of an iron plate by spot welding and drawing it out from the surface of the iron plate. Then, after the sheet metal work, a putty filling process, a painting process of a primer surfacer and a main painting process are successively carried out.
Further, on the other hand, when the degree of the dent is not so large as to apply the sheet metal work thereto, only the processes after the sheet metal work may be carried out. As for the putty filling process, there exist some methods depending on the degree of the dent and the kinds of putty to be used also differ depending on the degree of the dent. Recently, there has been developed a technique for repairing even a considerably severe dent by using special putty.
As described above, since a sheet metal repair needs to be carried out by repairing work corresponding to the degree of the damage, long experience is required for deciding how to carry out the repair. Further, high technical skill is also required for the actual repair work.
However, there are few engineers having such a high level of judgement and technical ability, and particularly, it is unreasonable from an economic point of view to engage such an experienced engineer to repair slight and minor damage.
Thus, an engineer having relatively little experience may be engaged in the repair of slight and minor damage, however, he may not possibly judge what kind of method for repairing the damage is required for actual repair work, which can cause a serious problem.
The present invention has been made with taking the above described matter into consideration, and accordingly, has an object to provide a method of repairing a vehicle body panel and a repair indexing device by which damage of a vehicle body can be quantatively recognized, the damage can be estimated and recorded with ease and even a person having little experience can properly determine a proper repairing method.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of repairing the damage of a vehicle body, comprising the steps of: measuring quantitatively the depth of a recessed part caused by the damage; and selecting a process from a plurality of previously estimated processes on the basis of the measured result, wherein the process is selected from putty filling and sheet metal work.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a repair indexing device for a vehicle body employed upon repair of the damage of the vehicle body, comprising: a plate shaped body; a gauge body provided at the central part of the plate shaped body so as to be capable of sliding in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the plate shaped body; a measuring means provided on the plate shaped body to measure the degree of damage of the vehicle body as the amount of sliding of the gauge body; a method display means for displaying a plurality of processes of a method; and a method selecting means for selecting a method of processes for repairing the damage from the plurality of methods so as to meet the amount of sliding obtained by the measuring means.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a repair indexing device for a vehicle body in addition to the second aspect, further comprising: a preliminary measuring means for measuring the normal surface configuration of a vehicle body panel to be repaired; and a correcting means for correcting the reference value of the gauge body on the basis of the measured value obtained by the preliminary measuring means.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a repair indexing device for a vehicle body in addition to the second aspect, further comprising: a deforming means for bending the plate shaped body in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the thickness of the plate shaped body, wherein the deforming means deforms the plate shaped body so as to correspond to the normal curved surface of the vehicle body panel to be repaired and the measuring means sets the plate shaped body thus deformed to the reference value of the gauge body.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a repair indexing device for a vehicle body in addition to the fourth aspect, wherein the deforming means has a long plate, peninsular parts respectively extend from both ends of the long plate in the directions perpendicular to that of the long plate and the tip ends of the peninsular parts are connected together by means of a substantially expansible high strength body, and the high strength body is expanded and contracted so that the long plate can be bent perpendicularly and in the direction of its thickness.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a repair indexing device for a vehicle body in addition to the second aspect, wherein the plate shaped body is provided with a base formed so as to freely slide in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the plate shaped body, and the base has auxiliary gauge bodies at both ends thereof so as to freely slide in the directions perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the base. Further, when the normal curved surface of the vehicle body panel is a protruding or convex surface, the auxiliary gauge bodies are slid to the vehicle body panel side from the base to correct the reference point of the gauge body. Still further, when the normal curved surface of the vehicle body panel is a recessed surface, the plate shaped body is slid to the vehicle body panel side from the base to correct the reference point of the gauge body.
The above described measuring means may be formed as a scale for measuring the amount of sliding of the gauge body. A plurality of methods may be displayed on the scale.
As the plate shaped body, a transparent plate made of a synthetic resin can be employed. The gauge body is preferably made of a synthetic resin. The scale may be preferably scored on the plate shaped body and an adhesive sheet or the like may be used in place thereof.
The method display means describes some specific repair methods. It is desired to divide the scale into some areas and describe the repair methods respectively corresponding to the areas.
Further, the long plate and the peninsular parts are formed with a flexible material such as a synthetic resin so as to be deformable. The high strength body may be preferably formed as a metallic shaft. Then, thread parts are formed in the parts of the high strength body and the connecting parts of the peninsular parts. Thus, the high strength body is rotated so that the length of the high strength body between both the peninsular parts can be expanded and contracted.
Upon use of the repair indexing device with the above described structure, on the assumption that a part subjected to a damage, for example, a dent is generated on the central part of a left door, the same position of a right door having no deformation is first measured so that the amount of the dent of the left door is measured on the basis of the measured result.
Specifically, the plate shaped body is initially deformed so as to correspond to the configuration of the right door which is not subjected to a damage to store the configuration (configuration of a curved surface) of the right door in the plate shaped body. Under this state, the plate shaped body is made to abut on the deformed part of the left door, and then, the gauge body is slid to measure the depth of the dented part. This depth can be directly read on the scale. Further, the methods described adjacently to the scale permit a user to understand the contents of a repair to be carried out.
As described above, the repair indexing device serves to store the normal configuration of a body by deforming the plate shaped body itself. Since the plate shaped body can be freely deformed so that it can readily meet a case in which the normal body is configured with a recessed surface as well as a case in which the normal body is configured with a convexed or protruding surface.
Further, according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the base and the plate shaped body can slide relative to each other, so that the normal body configuration can be stored.
In other words, when the normal body configuration is provided with a recessed surface, the plate shaped body is moved forward to the body side so as to store the normal configuration. On the other hand, when the normal body configuration is provided with a convexed or protruding surface, the auxiliary bodies are moved forward to the body side so as to store the normal configuration.
In the above described example according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a measuring method employed in the case of the normal body configuration of the recessed surface is different from that employed in the case of the normal body configuration of the convexed surface.
In both the cases, after the normal body configuration is stored, the plate shaped body is made to abut on the damaged or deformed part, and then, the gauge body is slid to measure the depth of the dent part. This depth can be directly read on the scale. Further, the methods described adjacently to the scale permit a user to understand the contents of a repair to be carried out.
According to the present invention, the degree of the damage of a vehicle body can be quantitatively grasped and a repairing method corresponding to the degree of the damage can be properly recognized.
Further, according to the present invention, the plate shaped body is made to abut on the damaged part after the normal body shape is stored, and then, the gauge body is slid to measure the depth of the bent part, and the damage of the vehicle body can be quantitatively recognized with good accuracy, and the damage can be estimated and recorded with ease.
Still further, even an engineer having little experience can suitably select a suitable repairing method by using the device of the present invention, so that the repair of the vehicle body can be properly and rapidly carried out at low cost.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.